


Pack

by firefright



Series: Moon Driven [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animal Instincts, M/M, Manipulation, Supernatural Elements, Underage Sex, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 01:33:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright
Summary: Four months down the line from when he was first bitten, Jason has more than come to terms with his new nature as a werewolf thanks to Slade's help. In return, Slade only gives him a few simple rules to follow: don't change where anyone else can see him, and stay away from any other wolves he may encounter.It all sounds easy enough. That is, until Jason meets Dick for the first time.





	Pack

**Author's Note:**

> To everyone who wanted more werewolf terribleness, I hope this suffices, because I certainly had a lot of fun writing it |D

Jason sniffs the ground, routing his nose through the dead leaves that cover the grass in Gotham’s central park. So many smells fill his senses; dank earth, sweet rot, water, animal matter and small traces of humans above it all. Free of obligation and with the whole night ahead of him, he follows trails at random, putting his tracking skills to the test and wagging his tail whenever he successfully follows a scent to its end (even if that end is sometimes a tree with a very angry squirrel perched on top).

It’s been four months since he was bitten. Since he found Slade, and Slade took him in. Four months of learning to understand the wolf within and coming to terms with what he is now. Not just the horror, but also the potential joy of it. The freedom, detached from everything he knew before.

Jason has a home now. A real, honest to god home. He goes to sleep each night with a full belly. Has clean clothes and new books amongst other possessions of his own. Even his own room, though he rarely has cause to use it. Most of the time Jason sleeps in Slade’s bed, curled up against the man himself if he’s there, otherwise immersed in his scent if he’s not.

It feels safe, natural, to do so. Like a piece of himself he never knew was missing has slotted into place. Everything he’d ever yearned for, _ached_ for, finally handed over to him in a way he never could have imagined.

Not that it’s all been plain sailing.

The first time Jason changed was terrifying, messy, and painful. The way his bones cracked and reformed, with black fur sprouting across his limbs, made all the worse by his complete lack of control over it with the full moon rising high in the sky overhead. His new form had overwhelmed him with the incredible power of its senses, and that was to say nothing of the instincts that also came along with them, threatening to wipe away rational thought entirely and reduce him to nothing more than a slavering beast.

It was then that he’d been forced to admit that Slade had been right. If he’d changed for the first time alone, without an older werewolf to guide him, who knows what he might have done.

Who knows who he might have hurt.

It had taken two whole months of learning at Slade’s heels for Jason to be able to control the transformation and retain his own mind when in wolf form. Time enough for him to also get to know Slade better as well, and though he isn’t always the easiest man to get along with — sharp at times, demanding, and always expecting to be obeyed — Jason would be hard pressed to deny that in the end he had saved him. He owes Slade his life. Maybe even more than that, and he still has so much to learn.

And the other aspects of their relationship…

If he were a human right now, he’d shiver thinking about it.

Abandoning the pile of leaves he’s been investigating, Jason trots away from the trees and over towards the small lake that sits at the northern end of the park. It’s late enough at night that there’s no risk of him running into any humans out here, and even if there were he’d hear them first, or smell them.

One of the foremost rules Slade had given Jason to follow when out alone was to stay away from people. From a distance they might mistake him for a very large dog, but if they got up close enough there was no way he’d be seen for anything but a wolf.

Hunters of their kind may not be very common in the world, but they do exist, and Slade had made plain to Jason that he would not be best pleased if he drew their attention to them, even by accident. Other werewolves had fallen to a lot less than a shittily taken photograph posted on the internet, he’d said.

Reaching the edge of the lake, Jason stretches out his paws in front of him before sitting down on his haunches and curling his tail in around his feet. Maybe tomorrow he can convince Slade to come out with him as well. It would be better to not be out here alone. To have someone to run alongside him. The first few times Jason had done this Slade had been there to shepherd him and make sure he kept his control, but Jason guesses that, being as old as he is, the novelty of such experiences must have worn off for him long ago, because those escorts had tapered off about a month ago and now stopped entirely.

Then again, Slade _had_ also promised him that at some point soon they’ll go out of the city together, to a place where he can really let loose and finally learn how to hunt like a true wolf without the risk of being spotted. So maybe it’s less that he isn’t interested and more that he doesn’t care to stretch his other form’s legs when in the city.

That’s a better thought than the previous one, since it lends credence to the idea that the reason Slade doesn’t come out with him anymore is for any other reason than not wanting to spend time with Jason.

He stays sitting by the water for a few more minutes, enjoying the slight breeze that tickles his ears, and contemplating his chances of catching any fish in the shallows before deciding he may as well call it a night. There’s a good book with his name on it waiting for him at home, and maybe if he isn’t too preoccupied Slade won’t mind Jason curling up next to him while he reads it.

Standing up again, Jason stretches out once more, then turns to lope his way back over to the park’s eastern exit and the spot where he hid his clothes.

Only when he reaches the entrance to the path he needs to take, he’s startled to see a dark shape sitting there blocking his way. With pricked ears and black fur in a shade just as deep as Jason’s, except for a lighter grey patch in the shape of a V across its chest.

 _Another wolf_ , he realises, freezing in place with one paw still raised mid-step. It’s another wolf. A werewolf, like him. He doesn’t understand quite how he knows that, but there’s something in the air, a feeling, that tells Jason his assessment is true. Slowly, he sets his paw back down, uncertain what to do.

That there are other wolves in the city was not something Jason needed Slade to tell him (though of course he had done so anyway). He wouldn’t be the way he is now if there weren’t. They still haven’t tracked down the wolf that bit him, and for a heart palpitating moment Jason wonders if he’s finally found the culprit himself, only… only on closer inspection, he thinks this wolf is far too small to be that monster. It’s only about two thirds the size of his attacker, if that. Though still quite a bit larger than Jason himself.

Slade had said he should be wary of other werewolves. That others in the city might see him as an interloper infringing on their territory before anything else, and that if he ever ran into one he should come straight home, rather than engage in a confrontation.

What he hadn’t said, though, was what Jason should do if that other wolf was _blocking_ his way.

He flicks his ears back. The easiest thing to do would be to take another path, but…

There’s no aggression he can read in those pricked up ears. No teeth bared his way, or any of the other physical warning signs of anger he’s learned to read from Slade in this form. The other wolf is just watching him, with a quiet, almost polite interest. Compounded by the way it suddenly tilts its head at Jason in silent question, as if wondering what it is he’s stopped for.

Fine. Just because he’s new at this doesn’t mean Jason isn’t capable if something does go wrong. He’ll take his chances, and if need be apologise to Slade later.

Slowly, Jason resumes padding forwards, shifting to the left so that he can give the other wolf as large a berth as possible. It’s hard not to let the nerves he’s feeling show the closer he gets, as his ears remain pressed backwards, and his tail threatens to drag low to the floor. Subconscious body language to communicate that he’s not a threat and should be allowed to pass by unhindered. As he draws nearer, Jason is also finally able to pick up on some of the wolf’s scent; male, and not entirely unpleasant. His tail twitches higher once they’re level with each other, but the other wolf doesn’t move at all except to turn his head, watching him step by.

His eyes are blue, something that distracts Jason until he forces himself to keep walking.

Eventually, he’s on the other side. Relief floods him that nothing untoward has happened, but Jason keeps his ears primed for any sound coming from behind him just in case, and after making it maybe another twenty feet down the path, he can’t help the temptation to look back behind him. Only when he does, the other wolf is gone.

Huh.

 

* * *

 

“Pup,” Slade greets him, as Jason knocks on the door of his bedroom and then slips inside, walking over towards the bed. “You’re back early.”

He doesn’t look up at Jason as he says it. Instead, Slade’s gaze stays focused on the screen of his laptop, which makes what Jason needs to say next a little easier for him to come out with. On the way home, he’d had some time to think about what happened in the park, and while his first instinct had been to tell Slade everything about it, a secondary voice had since popped up with a rather worrying notion.

Considering how distrustful Slade seems to be of other wolves, and how often he’s warned Jason against approaching them, how would he feel to know about the wolf he saw? Angry? Concerned? At best he won’t be pleased. And at worst…

At worst, he might forbid Jason from going back to the park again.

“I got tired,” he shrugs carelessly, “And I wanted to read my book.”

Lifting his hand, Jason brandishes said book at Slade as evidence of his honesty. It’s the easiest excuse he could think to make without telling Slade the truth. It wasn’t like the other wolf had done anything after all. He hadn’t growled or even bared his teeth at Jason, and he isn’t ready to give up his one point of freedom without any evidence that there is actually something to be concerned about first.

“Mm,” Slade grunts carelessly. He stays focused on the laptop for a moment longer, then finally turns his head to look up at Jason where he stands, hovering at the edge of the bed. His lips curl upwards slightly at the corners as he shuts the screen, and with one hand, Slade beckons Jason to sit down beside him. An instruction he follows through with gratefully, climbing onto the mattress to then be tugged in against his alpha’s side. Slade’s hand settles possessively over the jut of his hip, and even after a few months of this, Jason is hard pressed to avoid shivering. “Are you getting bored, pup?” he asks.

“Bored?” Jason repeats blankly.

Slade’s fingers slide under the hem of the loose t-shirt Jason put on to sleep in, moving onto the smooth skin of his stomach. “Of the park.”

“Oh,” he answers, somewhat distracted. It’s not the lie he was going for, but he’ll take it. “Kinda, I guess. Not like it changes a lot each night, ya know?”

“It’s artificial,” Slade agrees, “Of course it doesn’t change much; humans won’t let it. It’s all I can offer you for now, though. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Not safe for me to run anywhere else, I know.” Jason repeats the oft said lesson with a roll of his eyes. “Though I still say I could handle it if anyone did see me.”

Slade snorts, “Then it’s a good thing you’re not the leader of this pack, isn’t it? Take it from someone with experience, pup, it’s always better to be cautious than not. Don’t want to end up on the end of a silver bullet or dissected in some lab, do you?”

His hand slides further over Jason’s stomach, enough to brush the edges of the scars on the other side. This time Jason does shiver.

“I guess.” he grudgingly grumbles.

The book is plucked from his hands, and Slade sets it aside along with his laptop on the bedside table. That’s all the warning Jason has before finding himself suddenly on his back.

He’s grown an inch or two the last few months, and _definitely_ put on some weight, as well as muscle from regular meals and exercise, but he’s still nothing next to Slade. He looms over Jason like something out of myth. Huge, _powerful_. A lazy smirk curls his lips, and his eye is dark with obvious intent. Jason draws in a deep lungful of air, and the wave of intensified scent in it only confirms what he already knows.

“One more month, pup. Then we’ll take that trip I promised you.” Slade rumbles. His thumb — the nail slightly pointed as he lets some of his humanity slip in favour of the wolf — catches the middle of Jason’s lip, tugging on it. “Until then, you need to be patient. Understand?”

Jason bites the inside of his cheek. He’s hard suddenly. Slade has barely touched him and he’s already hard. He really hates being a teenager sometimes. It’s embarrassing, as much as it is thrilling.

“Yes, alpha.” he manages to say, breath hitching as Slade’s nail bites deeper into his lip, causing it to split open and bleed.

“Good boy.” Slade says, pleased.

He leans down, licks the blood from Jason’s chin, then drops the rest of his weight onto him.

 

* * *

 

Jason goes back to the park again two days later, when the urge to run gets so much that he can’t ignore it anymore.

He’s more cautious this time around, pausing to sniff the air before moving into the bushes to strip out of his clothes and change. He can’t detect any hint of the other wolf from here, but that doesn’t mean he might not be around somewhere. Jason will still have to be careful about this, just in case.

It’s a relief to leave his other body behind again, to wear fur and walk on four limbs. In some strange way, it almost feels more natural now than the form he was born with. Jason shakes himself, licks his chops, and takes off running.

At first, he just lopes an easy loop around the park, getting the excess energy out of his system. The second time he takes it slower, pausing now and then to investigate some interesting smell or sound.

He’s an hour into his excursion when he smells it. Him. The other wolf, lurking nearby once again.

Jason stops short of one of the park’s fountains; a tall circular thing with a statue of some famous Gothamite Jason doesn’t know the name of at the center. The once white stone has been dulled by age and weather, then livened up by graffiti, but the dark shadow that pads around it still stands out like a shadow on a sunlit day. Jason’s tail quivers at the sight of him, his ears turn forward. He starts to wonder if he’s just made a very big mistake in coming here.

The other werewolf stops, too, the moment he sees Jason in turn, and for a long, tense moment, they just stare at each other. Then, in a move that completely surprises Jason, he lets out a light, pleased bark, and bounds forward towards him, tail wagging.

Startled, Jason starts to backpedal before he registers the signals he’s being given are _friendly_ , rather than aggressive. And by then, the other wolf has already reached him, moving faster than Jason could ever expect to bump his nose against his muzzle.

He falls on his haunches, flummoxed by the contact, before watching as the other wolf springs back just as quickly, falling into a half-crouch with his tail still wagging behind him. An unmistakable invitation to play.

 _Oh,_ Jason thinks dumbly, _Okay_. He has absolutely no idea how to handle this.

Picking up on his hesitation, the other wolf stands up out of his crouch. Black ears swivel back, then forward. This time the bark is softer. More questioning.

Jason had learned early on that wolves don’t have speech like humans do. Complicated concepts are difficult to communicate when in this form; it’s mostly broad emotions and intent that gets across. Which is helpful in some ways, more difficult in others. He also feels more strongly than he does as a human, like a filter has been lifted from his mind, and as Jason continues to comprehend what it is this other wolf wants from him, the emotion he feels most strongly under his initial wariness is… is...

_Excitement._

Standing back up slowly, Jason cautiously raises his ears from where they’ve instinctively laid flat. His nose twitches, picking up on more of the other wolf’s — he really needs to think of something to call him, even if just inside his own head — scent, which is not entirely unpleasant. Everything about the signals he’s getting seems genuine, and when the wolf takes another step towards him, Jason’s tail seems to take on a mind of its own, cautiously wagging in return.

The response he gets is immediate. A bouncing of paws and another bark as the other wolf (Stripe, Jason decides to call him that until he knows better) prances in front of him, dropping into another half-crouch before bounding a few feet further away towards the fountain and stopping again. Another invitation, a clear one, to chase and run.

For a brief moment, Jason thinks of Slade again, his warnings against interacting with other packs, but what real harm could this do? He’s had more than enough of being by himself out here, and Slade had said it himself; wolves aren’t meant to be alone.

It takes a second for him to realise that while he’s been thinking this over Stripe has crept closer again, and Jason is startled out of his moment of introspection by the feeling of teeth nipping at his tail. He yelps, scandalised at first, and lays his ears back flat as he growls at him. Stripe just barks again, tongue lolling out of his mouth and his tail wagging in the canine equivalent of a grin.

It’s the final motivation Jason needs to give in to the pull of instinct. He runs forward, hot on his new maybe-friend’s heels, and like a shadow, Stripe flits away from him, galloping swiftly along the path into the nearest line of trees. He’s fast, Jason realises that outright, and the thought thrills him more than it should with the challenge of catching up to him.

Together, they dart through the fields and copses of the park. Around the edge of the lake and under the bridge. Jason does his best, going at full pelt to try and catch Stripe, and when that doesn’t work uses his gathered knowledge of the layout of the park to try and cut him off instead.

He’s never run like this before, pushing himself to his full capability. Soon enough his muscles are burning, while his lungs expand almost to bursting point. His ears are pressed back against his head from the force of his speed, and his claws rip into the ground, tearing up chunks of dry grass in his wake. Every sense, every aspect of his being, becomes focused on nothing else but keeping track of his target.

It’s exhilarating, like opening up the gates to a whole new reality. Something in Jason knows this like he knows breathing; the pounding of his heart in his chest, the hunger of the hunt, the pull of the moon...

The warmth of the pack.

It’s at the turn of the playground a difference is finally made. Jason leaps one side of the fence, traverses the wood-chip covered ground through the swings, then jumps the other. Quick enough at last to tumble his opponent. They go rolling together across the grass, playfully snapping teeth as they wrestle each other before Stripe gives into him; acknowledging Jason’s victory by flopping down in some sort of surrender and his tongue dangling out of his mouth again as he pants heavily.

One joyful bark later, Jason is quick to follow his example. The chase lasted a good twenty minutes, and he’s quick to discover that he’s as close to exhausted himself as he’s ever been. But the burn in his lungs is a good one, adrenaline and endorphins still pumping through his system as he allows his body to splay out like an old dog in front of a fireplace.

Somehow, he’s not surprised to see that Stripe recovers first. Jason’s ear twitches as he hears him get up, and he raises his head to watch as his new companion wanders over to sniff the base of a nearby tree before taking a piss against it. An action that while in this form isn’t nearly as embarrassing as it would be to witness were he human. It just feels natural, normal.

He’s thirsty.

Rolling back onto his feet, Jason makes for the nearest of the drinking fountains that are dotted around the park. Thanks to money from Bruce Wayne, of course, the man who seems to fund everything in this city. They have lower set bowls for dogs to drink out of as well, and it’s into one of these that Jason gratefully dips his snout, lapping up cool water tinted with the taste of the night air.

Before too long, Stripe’s there with him, shouldering Jason aside so that he can drink his own fill. He’s pushy too, Jason decides, and in annoyance nips at Stripe’s ear; both in admonition for pushing him out of the way and for the earlier tug on his tail.

Soon enough they’re playing again, and it’s only when Jason happens to catch a glimpse of the position of the moon above them that he realises how late it’s gotten, and how much trouble he could be in regardless of the company he’s been keeping if he doesn’t get home soon. He hurriedly lets go of the stick in his mouth, putting an impromptu end to their tug-of-war over it that results in Stripe falling back in surprise on his haunches, before turning to head back to his usual exit from the park.

A questioning bark from Stripe follows Jason as he starts to run forward, and after a few seconds he realises that the other wolf is now following him. Turning around, he snaps his teeth warningly, hoping it gets across clearly the message that he needs to go.

Stripe stops, cocking his head at Jason a moment, then with a soft, reluctant huff sits down. Jason waits another moment to be sure, and when he doesn’t move again continues to hurry away from him and home.

 

* * *

 

At the house, Jason manages to shower and change his clothing without Slade noticing, and also gain nothing more than a raised eyebrow for how late he’s stayed out when he crawls into bed with him.

“Suddenly found the park interesting again, have you?” Slade asks him, hand idly scratching the back of Jason’s neck.

He shrugs, “There was this smell, I wanted to know what it was. Lost track of time after.”

“Hm, and did you find it?”

“Yeah,” Jason yawns, “Turned out to be some weird plant. Stank like ass.”

Slade snorts, “I can see keeping you on track once we get out to the woods will be an experience.”

He can’t help grinning at the idea, “You invited it.”

“Yes,” Slade replies, long-suffering at the reminder, “I suppose I did.”

Somehow, despite every instinct to the contrary, Jason manages to resist the temptation to run straight back to the park the next night, and the night after that, too. It’s only on the third evening that he asks permission to go back again and is granted it.

After shedding his clothes and transforming in the usual spot, he can’t deny he’s rather anticipating the chance of seeing Stripe again. The opportunity to play with another wolf the same way as before.

Putting his nose to the ground, Jason searches eagerly for a trace of him that isn’t old. The first lap he does around the park brings up nothing, but on the second he finds a trail around the opposite entrance he himself uses to get in. He can’t find any clothes, so he guesses Stripe must change elsewhere. Possibly even before he comes to the park.

If only Slade would allow _him_ that luxury.

A soft whuff calls Jason’s attention, and when he turns around to look behind him there’s Stripe, almost invisible in the dark except for the mark on his chest by which he invented the nickname. The responding wag of his own tail happens without Jason’s permission, and he’s quick to follow it up with a bark, too.

One playful bound forward by Stripe later and they’re off, racing around the park once again. For both the rest of this night and on many subsequent nights thereafter. Over the course of the next couple weeks, Jason visits the park at varying intervals, and through no small amount of effort also manages to keep his association with other wolf completely secret from Slade to boot.

But then one night, something about their routine — which has so quickly become comfortable and familiar — suddenly changes in an entirely unexpected way.

Or rather, _Stripe_ changes.

It’s almost the full moon, and as such Jason’s buzzing with nervous energy. Enough so that Slade is happy to let him go out, so long as it keeps him from getting underfoot. When the actual night comes, they’ll of course spend it together, he knows that, but right now he needs to run. Needs to hunt, needs to… to...

Stripe seems to be in much the same mood, and so they charge around the park together, play fighting and chasing any other animal they can find. Raccoons hiss at them from the trees, dogs bark and growl before fleeing. Everything seems hypersensitive, overwhelming — much the same way it was when he was first bitten. Every scent is a fascination, every sound impacts on his ears like a sonic boom. It’ll be worse on the actual night, Jason knows, but for now everything’s still at a level where he can just about keep his mind enough to enjoy it.

Almost two hours of activity sees them eventually collapsing on the grass underneath one of the thick copses of trees that fill the park. Jason rolls onto his back, completely at ease on the soft ground that has been dampened by recent rainfall. Up above him, through one of the gaps in the branches, the moon hangs in the sky fat and heavy, and he has to swallow down the growing urge in his chest to howl at the just the sight of it.

No howling here in the city. That’s another one of the rules Slade had set him from the start. Maybe the hardest one to follow out of all them as time goes on, and his weakness towards the impulse has earned Jason more than one warning bite in the past.

But once they get out to the wilderness…

Before he can finish that thought, a sound distracts him — familiar and strange all at once. Jason rolls over onto his side to look towards it, and instantly freezes at the sight of Stripe stretching out and _shifting_ in front of him.

All at once he sits up, pinning his ears back flat against his head. This is new, and wholly unexpected. As much as he and Stripe have spent a lot of time together of late, become friends (at least, so much as the wolfish part of Jason understood the concept), neither of them has ever made any such move before. Indeed, Jason has always been very careful to make sure he’s alone again before changing back to human form, wary of allowing this relationship between them to go any further than it already has.

But evidently Stripe is no longer on the same page as him, and all Jason can do is watch as he transforms.

Before, he’s only ever witnessed Slade do it, or had an extremely imperfect view of the change overtaking his own limbs. Watching Stripe is different, however. Slade simply moves through going from man to wolf as efficiently as possible, uncaring of the ugliness of it, but Stripe…

It’s strange, but Jason would almost call the way his body ripples from one form to another graceful.

Long, lean limbs, dark hair, and skin not nearly so pale as his own. Jason shifts back onto his haunches as the now man in front of him stretches out his back and then shakes his head before turning to look at him with a smile on his lips, naked as the day he was born and apparently completely unbothered by that fact.

“Hey.” he says.

Jason stares back, completely unable to move and doubly at a loss on how to respond.

His lack of reaction soon earns him a highly raised eyebrow. “What? You’re not going shy on me are you?” The man’s smile widens into a grin, “C’mon, don’t leave me hanging here. I figured we’ve been hanging around with each other long enough now that we should at least know each other’s names. Mine’s Dick, what’s yours?”

Answering requires lips he currently doesn’t have. Part of Jason rebels against the question, identifying it as a trap, but, surprisingly enough, he also wants to answer. Wants to give his own name in return to Dick’s.

Dick. Stripe’s real name is _Dick_ , and amazingly, he actually managed to tell Jason that with a straight face.

Fuck it, he thinks eventually, after a good few seconds of debate with himself. He’s broken enough of Slade’s rules by associating with Str—Dick already, what’s one more on top of the pile?

“Come on,” Dick coaxes him further, “I promise I won’t bite.”

Jason backs up a few paces towards the trunk of one of the trees, wary enough still to give himself room just in case. He also moves slightly behind it as he transforms, because while Dick may be comfortable showing off everything about himself, Jason can’t exactly say he feels the same way towards someone he barely knows.

It earns another grin, as well an amused, “I knew it, you _are_ shy.” from Dick as he changes, and Jason winces as soon as he’s finished (still not entirely used to the ever-present pain yet).

“Fuck off, not everyone’s an exhibitionist, asshole.”

Dick laughs, “I’m naked as the wolf, what difference does it make when I’m a man?” He shifts forwards slightly, eagerly peering at what he can see of Jason. “So, are you going to tell me your name?”

“Jason,” he huffs, “ _Dick_.”

Unperturbed, Dick continues to smile. “It’s nice to be able to talk to you like this at last, Jason.”

“Why didn’t you before?” Jason can’t help but ask, pulling his knees to his chest so he can hug them.

“I wanted to,” Dick admits, “But well… you seemed skittish. Still do, in fact.”

“I’m not skittish!” he responds at once, defensively, “I’m just careful, that’s all.”

Dick holds up his hands in a peacemaking gesture, which gives Jason more of an eyeful than he knows what to do with. “Hey, I wasn’t judging, but glad to hear it. Never hurts to be careful, it’s just that I don’t meet many new wolves in the city. How long have you been here?”

“I’ve always been here,” the blush creeps up his cheek without permission, and Jason turns his head away to hide it, relying on his other senses to keep track of Dick’s position. “Only recently like this, though.”

“Oh,” Dick nods, “So you were bitten, not born, then?”

Jason’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t often like to be reminded of that fact, and it’s worse when the person doing it isn’t Slade.

“Yeah. How about you?”

He can’t see any scars on Dick’s body that look like a bite, but then he’s also made an effort not to look too closely. The fact that some werewolves were born, not bitten, was something Slade had told him in the first few weeks they lived together, after finally Jason got together enough courage to ask his alpha about the origin of his own lycanthropy after noticing he didn’t have a scar either.

Slade was born, not bitten, a fact Jason knows he will forever envy him for.

“Twenty years a wolf,” Dick fills him in cheerfully, apparently proud of it, “I’ve never known anything else. Not always in Gotham, though. My family used to travel, we were part of a circus.”

At that Jason has to look back, raising both his eyebrows. “As what? The wild animals?”

“As _trapeze_ artists,” Dick sticks his tongue out at him, “Even a circus couldn’t explain wolves as big as we get.”

“A flying mutt, amazing.” Jason says, before he can stop himself.

He has to duck back behind the tree trunk to avoid the stick Dick throws his way for the comment. “You’re a lot more mouthy as a human, pup.”

Hearing Slade’s usual nickname for him come from another’s lips puts a sudden sour note in Jason’s stomach. “Don’t call me that,” he says sharply, and with warning. “You’re not that much older than me.”

“Sorry,” Dick replies, sounding utterly unrepentant. Then, as if zeroing in on the cause of his discomfort, adds, “So are you here alone, then? Do you have a pack?”

“No, I’m not alone.” This time Jason sets his teeth against him, “And that’s none of your business.”

“Whoa, sorry,” Dick says, softening his tone in response and lowering his head, “Didn’t mean to pry, I’m just trying to be friendly. I live with someone else, too. Only he’s not one for coming out much. That’s why I was so glad to meet you.”

Jason forces himself to pull his aggression back. To take a deep breath and calm down. There really is no need to be so snippish with Dick, who by all appearances really is just trying to be friendly the way he says he is. Old instincts die hard, though, and new ones all the harder.

“It’s… fine.” he forces himself to say, clutching his knees tighter, “I’m just not used to…”

“What?” Dick asks, still in that same gentle voice.

He shakes his head, “Nothing. S’been fun hanging round with you, too.”

Dick brightens back up again immediately. He has a face that seems made for smiling, as they come quickly and easily to him in a way Jason can’t really identify with. “Good. Y’know, I was thinking maybe we could go grab a bite to eat together. There’s a 24 hour diner not too far away that has the best pies I’ve ever tasted. I’d pay, of course, and we could get to know each other a bit more, too.”

In his current state, ravenous for everything, the idea does sound terribly tempting to Jason. But at the same time, he hesitates.

Going for a run in the park is one thing. A meal with a stranger is something else.

“I can’t,” he fumbles out hurriedly, “I’m supposed to be home soon. Pretty much now, in fact.”

“Oh,” Dick says, with no more surprise than that. He nods understandingly, “Then how about next time, after the full moon? We could meet at that gate you normally come through. Go for food, then change and run after?”

It surprises Jason how much he wants that. It’s the offer of free food, he thinks. Even after eating well for months now, he still can’t turn that down.

“Well, we probably shouldn’t change _before_ we go into the diner.” he jokes, to distract from that feeling. And just as easily as he smiles Dick laughs again.

“It would be funny, but agreed. Two werewolves walk into a diner is the start of a good joke and nothing else.”

The corners of his own mouth turn up for a moment. Maybe just for that Jason says, “I’ll think about it, but no promises, all right?”

“No promises.” Dick repeats, though he looks like that in itself is the best news he’s heard all day.

Suddenly needing to escape that look, Jason stands up, then curses when he remembers he’s naked.

Hastily, he puts his hands down to cover himself, and steps swiftly back behind the tree. “I gotta…”

Dick grins wider, leaning back on his hands like he hasn’t a care in the world with all his bare skin on display. “I know. I’ll see you after the full moon, Jason.”

Already changing, Jason can’t answer in return. He pushes himself through the transformation as quickly as possible to avoid any further embarrassment, then darts off for the gate where his clothes lay hidden and waiting for him.

 

* * *

 

At home, Jason’s barely stripped off and stepped into the shower before he hears the sound of the bathroom door swinging open again, swiftly followed by bare feet crossing the tile. Barely thirty seconds later, the shower curtain parts and he shivers as Slade’s hands slip around his hips to pull Jason in against his chest. “Slade—”

“You ran in here rather quickly tonight, pup,” he hums deeply against his hair, “And after staying out so long, too. Everything all right?”

Jason’s heart jumps in his chest for more reasons than one. He hasn’t had the chance to lather up yet, just get himself wet, and with the way he and Dick were rolling around together in the park he’s rightfully worried that the water alone won’t have been enough to get the scent off him.

“You said you didn’t want me tracking dirt around the house,” he answers, as casually as he can manage while holding up his hands as evidence. Dirt on paws translates to dirt on the fingers and the soles of his feet when he turns back. “Just trying to be accomodating.”

“Is that right,” Slade tightens his grip around Jason’s waist. The spread of his fingers still feels huge against him even now, despite the extra inches he’s grown. “And exactly how far does that intention to accommodate me happen to go?”

“Depends,” Jason swallows anxiously, “On how nice you’re planning to be to me tonight.”

Slade chuckles darkly, making his hunger clear in just that simple sound. “Pup, you know better than that. I’ve never been _nice_.”

“Especially around the full moon,” he quips, “Always turns you into a real—unh!”

Jason gasps as Slade pushes him slightly forwards, then, moving them apart just enough to make it easier for him to ease the height difference between them so he can sink his teeth into Jason’s neck. Sparks of pain and arousal immediately make themselves known across his body, and Jason can’t help from keening slightly as Slade goes immediately still after, holding the bite for longer than he’s used to.

He’s afraid, and aroused, and afraid. But mostly—

Slade lets him go, licking his tongue across the new mark as Jason trembles. He feels his nose bury itself against the underside of his jaw, punctuated by another nip, and if Jason’s cock wasn’t already most of the way to hard it would be now, as Slade growls against his wet skin, “Hands on the wall, pup.”

“Alpha, I…”

“ _Now_.”

Jason jumps to obey, leaning forward and pressing his palms flat against the steam-soaked tile in front of him. The position feels so terribly vulnerable, and his mind is racing as Slade lets go of him, wondering what it is that’s coming next. The water dulls scent so much he can’t up anything of what Slade’s feeling. Can’t see him as his sodden hair slides down to hang in his face, blocking his vision even of what’s right in front of him.

The next touch is to his legs. Slade’s hands guide them further apart, increasing that feeling of vulnerability. Jason bites his lip, whimpers as teeth graze his backside, and then Slade’s hands are on his ass, pulling his cheeks open and baring him completely. “A-alpha...” he stutters.

Jason’s knees almost buckle at the feeling of a hot tongue starting to lave across his hole. Hotter than the water. Hotter even than the boiling heat that’s now building in his groin. Before Slade, he never imagined anything like this could feel so good, so intense. Jason bites his lip as his nerves jump against every rough lick, and when Slade actually pushes his tongue inside…

“Fuck!” he chokes, balling his hands into fists and thumping one against the wall for some kind of outlet. It’s filthy, dirty, and the wolf in him loves it, baying louder than ever to be let out. “Slade, _please_. Please!”

Blood spreads across his tongue as Jason bites his lip harder. It doesn’t seem feasible that just this penetration could feel so deep, so intimate. He squirms against it, trying to push back in search of more, but is held in place by the sudden bruising pressure of one of Slade’s hands on his hips — strong enough that he doesn’t have a hope in hell of fighting against it.

Then all at once Slade’s mouth and tongue leave him, and Jason whines for the loss of it, only to shout when instead Slade replaces them with a finger that hooks inside him and spreads his hole wider before diving back in. Vibrations shake up inside Jason’s passage as his alpha growls, raw and deep — the sound travelling through his body to his cock. And he can’t… he can’t…

Jason slams his eyes shut as he comes, hitting the bathroom tile again hard enough that he’s sure it must crack beneath his knuckles. The sound he makes is as close to a howl as his human throat can manage, and the only thing that keeps him from collapsing down to the bottom of the shower afterwards is Slade’s hand still on his hip, refusing to let him go.

The next couple minutes seem to float by. He’s dimly aware of more fingers being pressed inside him. The light burn of inadequate lubrication accompanying them. Jason pants as Slade positions himself behind him, replacing everything else with only the thick head of his cock.

“You’re mine, pup,” one of Slade’s hands fist in his hair, drawing Jason’s head up so that he can grunt out the words against his ear as he slowly, inexorably, slides his cock inside. “ _Mine_. Never forget that.”

“Yours,” Jason manages to choke out in response, “Only yours. Oh God, oh fuck… Slade, please!”

The hand in Jason’s hair slips around to the front of his throat, squeezing tight enough to hinder his breathing. It shouldn’t feel good, but it does, especially on top of everything else. He swears he can feel his teeth shake in his jaw as Slade fucks him, hard and rough, mixing pain with pleasure as the hot water pours over them both.

The only thing Jason can do is hold on.

 

* * *

 

The following days and the full moon pass quickly. As unbelievable as it first seems to Jason, Slade doesn’t seem to have picked up on any hint of Dick’s scent on him, and the bout of especially intense sex they had in the shower is eventually attributed only to the increase of aggression that time of the month stirs in their kind (a fact that’s backed up by how often they repeat it over the course of the next week). He spends the actual night curled up by his alpha’s side, feeling warm and protected by the size and sheer presence of the older wolf, even if the confining walls of the basement of their house leaves something to be desired so far as his desire to hunt and run is concerned.

All of which leaves Jason with very little time to think anymore about Dick and his offer. It isn’t until the week after, once things have calmed down again, that he finally remembers it.

“I’m going out to the park,” he tells Slade one evening, acting as nonchalant about the statement as he possibly can, “Want me to grab anything on the way home?”

“You running a delivery service now?” Slade grunts, not looking up from his laptop as Jason pulls on his shoes near the door.

“Community service for the elderly.” he snarks back without missing a beat, earning an amused snort from Slade.

“Watch your mouth, pup, or I’ll wash it out with soap for you.”

“Have to catch me first.” Jason taps his foot impatiently against the floor. “Sooo….”

This time Slade does look up, but only to roll his eye at him. “Go on, get out of here.”

Jason grins, and doesn’t waste a moment further before sweeping out the door, down the steps to the back yard and through the gate into the city beyond. It’s a steady twenty minute walk from Slade’s house to the park, but he makes it in fifteen by putting on a slightly quicker pace.

At the entrance, he stops to look around, sniffing the air to detect any trace of anyone who might be nearby. He doesn’t change right away either, remembering what Dick said about going out to eat first.

… not that he’s agreed to that yet, or anything else, really. He just figures he should wait here just in case. They did agree that much.

A few more minutes pass before the deliberate crunch of a footstep on the path catches his attention.

“Hey,” Dick smiles at him as he approaches. “Glad to see you turned up finally, I was starting to worry I’d scared you off somehow.”

“You said after the full moon,” Jason shrugs, “Should’ve been more specific if you didn’t want to be kept waiting.”

“Fair enough.”

Dick’s wearing a black leather jacket over a dark blue shirt and jeans. An outfit that looks good on him, Jason idly thinks. In comparison, he feels a bit shabbier wearing the loose t-shirt and jeans he’d chosen to come out in tonight. Though at least his clothes actually _fit_ him now, thanks to Slade, and are without any holes or ragged edges the way they used to be.

“So…” he goes on, slightly awkwardly, “You still want to go to that diner you were talking about?”

“I’m hungry if you are.” Dick grins back.

Jason nods, “Just so long as you’re paying.”

“My invitation, my treat,” Dick promises, before reaching over to clap his hand against Jason’s shoulder, “Now come on, it’s a ten minute walk, and I’m positive you’ll—”

“You didn’t tell me you were meeting a friend, Jason.”

They both freeze at the sound of a third voice intruding on their conversation. Jason in horrified recognition, and Dick doubtless from surprise.

He didn’t smell him. Didn’t hear him. How…

Downwind, Jason realises as he turns around to look at Slade. He’s standing downwind, and must have taken care not to be overheard as he followed him.

“Slade,” he manages to say, torn between whether to be angry or contrite. Being tracked this way feels like a betrayal of trust, but — considering the circumstances under which he’s been caught — has he really got a leg to stand on in that department?

Any further words feel locked in his chest, and Jason falls silent as Slade prowls closer, eye dark and intense as he looks over them both.

Then, shocking Jason even further, he smiles at Dick, purring out, “Grayson.” in a tone that sounds somewhere between a threat and a caress.

“Slade,” Dick growls in response, bristling as his hand drops away from Jason’s shoulder.

“You two know each other?!” Jason exclaims incredulously, his head jerking from left to right. A pace backwards puts some space between him and Dick, though it’s still not enough room for him to clear his head.

“No,” Dick says, at the same moment Slade answers, “Yes.”

Jason’s alpha smiles all the sharper when he hears him deny it. “Well, maybe not for a while now. His pack leader objects to my presence.”

“He’s not the only one.” Dick retorts sharply, feet inching apart as if ready for a fight.

“No,” Slade inclines his head dangerously, “He’s not.” Then the smile drops entirely from his face as he goes on to say, “Which makes me wonder what you’re doing sniffing around Jason.”

“I am not sniffing around—” Dick starts to protest, then stops, forcing himself to inhale deeply. “I don’t want a fight, Slade.” he says.

“Then you’re going about it completely the wrong way.”

Jason doesn’t know if Slade really does grow larger in that moment, but it feels like it. He seems to fill the path, huge and impossible in size as his eye brightens to a familiar golden glow in the moonlight.

“Alpha,” Jason begins, “Listen, I didn’t—”

“ _Don’t._ ” Slade snaps, suddenly sharp as he directs a glare towards him, “I’ll get to you soon enough, pup.”

Jason immediately snaps his mouth shut. He’s gotten better at managing his instinctive reactions to Slade’s authority, but not nearly enough to refuse that order.

Satisfied by his obedience, Slade looks back to Dick. “Well? Are you going to come clean about what you’re really doing here or am I going to have to do it for you?”

The nails on Dick’s fingers have sharpened to claws, Jason notices. “How long have you known?” he asks.

“Oh, I didn’t.” Slade smirks, “Not until you confirmed it for me just now.”

Dick’s face flushes white with anger. Anger Jason feels, too, fanned by his ongoing confusion at whatever it is he’s apparently missing from the conversation.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, despite the order to stay quiet lingering in his ears. Taking another step back, Jason looks wildly between them, before finally setting his gaze on his supposed new ‘friend’. “Dick, what the hell is he talking about?”

“Jason, I…” Dick sets his jaw, visibly forcing himself to remain calm, though shoots Slade one last furious glare before giving Jason his full attention, “Look, I was going to talk to you about it at the diner. I had to be sure first, and it wasn’t until we actually spoke before the full moon that I was. Believe me, I haven’t held anything back from you because I didn’t want you to know.”

“Know what?!” Jason demands.

“Go on,” Slade says, arms now loosely folded across his broad chest, “Tell him.”

Dick’s hands are clenched into fists at his sides, and his scent blooms anger like a red flower. Jason can’t help but think that if he weren’t here, he and Slade would have gotten into a fight by now, so strong seems Dick’s dislike of him.

“Five months ago,” he begrudgingly begins, “My pack leader, Bruce, ran into some trouble with hunters. He managed to escape their attempt to capture him, but before he could they used something against him, some new chemical weapon we’d never seen before. It hurt him. Badly. And worst of all, made him lose control of himself. He tried to get away through the city — wanted to get home as quickly as he could without hurting anyone, but…” Dick bites his lip, “It took a few days for him to recover. Everything that happened was hazy at first, but once the memory cleared…”

The bottom of Jason’s stomach drops clear through the earth below him.

“We looked everywhere,” Dick says softly now, as if afraid every word could send Jason skittering away from him, “I swear we did. Every hospital, every clinic. The… even the morgues, but we couldn’t find anything. Then last month I met you, and I didn’t want to jump to conclusions,” he’s almost babbling now, “But I had a feeling, and after I saw the scar—”

“Your pack leader bit me.” Jason interrupts him, dazed by the revelation. That now he has a name and a link to the one who made him this way. “This Bruce, he…”

A hand grasps his shoulder, huge and solid. Slade’s hand, as the older wolf pulls Jason in against his side. He doesn’t fight it, just leans into the familiar comfort. Slade’s scent surrounds him like a barrier, keeping him safe from this new information, even as it threatens to shake him apart from his very core.

“A noble sentiment,” Slade drawls, talking directly to Dick now, “Or it would be, if it were true, that is. But Wayne almost killed this boy through his carelessness, Grayson, and if Jason hadn’t found me when he had, the results would have been even worse. Now he’s sending you out to do his dirty work for him, it’s truly pathetic.”

Dick snarls at him, “It _is_ true! Bruce never would have bit anyone if he had ful control of himself, and he especially never would have abandoned Jason on purpose. Don’t try and twist this, Slade.”

“I’m not twisting anything,” Slade responds calmly, “You’re the one who’s been hiding the truth from Jason for weeks.”

“You fucking—” Dick turns his attention back to Jason, speaking desperately, “Jason, that’s not what happened at all. Trust me, please. I was going to tell you tonight, I promise. Take you to meet Bruce as well if you were willing. Neither of us ever meant for this to happen, I swear.”

Jason stares at him. The warmth of Slade at his side might be the only thing still keeping him up on his feet right now, or from flying forward and punching Dick in the face.

“You should have told me from the start,” he accuses, “Even if you didn’t know for sure, you should’ve said.”

“We can fix this.” Dick tries, “Anything you need, Jason. If you’ll just come and—”

“I already have everything I need!” Jason spits back, cutting him off. “Screw you and _him_!”

Dick recoils back a step, upset clear in his expression, but Jason is too furious suddenly to pay it attention. He could have known this weeks ago. Dick could have told him before the full moon, but he didn’t, and Slade is right about how fucked up it is that he’s here instead of this ‘Bruce’. How cowardly that is, to send an emissary to deliver the news rather than coming himself.

“Well,” Slade says smoothly, squeezing Jason’s shoulder again, “I think that says everything that needs to be said, doesn’t it? Jason and I will be taking our leave now, Grayson. Try to stop us and I’ll be sending you home to your pack in pieces. Try to approach him again without speaking to me first and I’ll do the same. Are we clear?”

“This isn’t over, Slade.” Dick manages to grind out.

“No?” Pulling Jason with him, Slade turns to start walking away, speaking the rest of what he has to say back over his shoulder, “If you really cared about this boy, maybe you’d actually have the sense to leave that weak fool behind finally. But do tell Wayne that if he really wants to make a fight of this, he can find me on his own terms. I’ll be waiting.”

Seething, Jason lets himself be guided along, teeth clenched hard enough that they creak in his jaw. He doesn’t look back, can’t look back unless he does something stupid — like tear himself away from Slade’s hold and attack Dick for everything that he’s done.

He’d deserve it, he thinks furiously. They both would.

“Jason!” Dick calls after him, though he doesn’t attempt to follow. “Please just think about it! Don’t believe everything Slade tells you, he lies!”

Rich words coming from him. Jason shakes his head and closes his ears to anything else that’s said as he accompanies Slade home.

 

* * *

 

“I won’t pretend I’m not angry with you,” Slade says once they’re inside, releasing Jason from his grip the moment the door shuts behind them. “I am. You disobeyed the rules I set out for you. Rules that were made for your own protection. You could’ve put yourself in real danger by blindly trusting another wolf like that.”

Jason flinches back slightly, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the nearby wall. He’s unable to look at Slade in this moment, and keeps his gaze focused on the floor while his pack leader talks.

“I should punish you, and I would, except I think tonight’s revelations have already driven the lesson home better than anything I could devise would. Isn’t that right?”

He forces himself to nod, forcing out, “Yes, alpha.” in miserable tones.

A few seconds of silence follows, then Slade audibly sighs. Jason recoils again as fingers reach to brush back through his hair, and he has to remind himself that this is Slade, not his father or anyone else who is mad at him. Slade has never hurt him yet.

“There now, pup, it’s all right. It’s partly my fault. You’re young, and so new to this. I’ve asked a lot of you since we met, staying inside so much and not allowing you to really explore the full extent of what you are.”

Jason shrugs a little. He feels lost, drained. Utterly unsure how to process everything that’s just happened. “S’okay, know you’ve had stuff to take care of. I should’ve listened.”

“Yes, you should’ve.” Slade confirms dryly, “But that still doesn’t absolve me entirely.”

“How could they not have… it’s been so long. If they really looked so hard for me, they would have found something, right?” he looks up at Slade. “And saying the guy bit me because some chemical made him lose control…”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that before,” still stroking his hair, Slade looks thoughtful, “I suppose it’s not impossible, though.”

“So you know him, this Bruce—” Jason starts as he suddenly puts what he’d heard earlier together in a new way, “— _Bruce Wayne_. The Bruce Wayne?!”

“Yes, pup, that’s right.”

“Bruce Wayne is a werewolf. Holy shit.” Jason’s mouth hangs open for a moment. A werewolf, and the one who bit _him._ “... what’s he like?”

At the question, Slade’s expression darkens. “Arrogant,” he begins, “Convinced his way is the only way. He’s the worst kind of werewolf, one that resents what he is.”

Resents what he is? Jason blinks, how could anyone resent this? Sure, it was overwhelming at first. Scary even. But the more time Jason spends in the wolf’s skin, the more he appreciates it. Loves it, even, for the freedom it brings. A perspective on the world most other people will never see.

“If that’s so, I guess I should be glad he didn’t find me first. I couldn’t imagine that.”

“Neither could I, pup. And I’m certainly glad that things ended up the way they did.” Slade’s hand slides down to the back of Jason’s neck, using the grip to pull him forward into what’s the closest he ever gets to giving a hug.

Jason allows it, turning his face into Slade’s chest. Everything still feels so wrong, and especially after Dick…

He’d seemed so nice. Genuine. But at the same time he’d hidden the truth from him, no matter what motive he may have had for doing so. Jason can’t forgive that, and he certainly won’t ever forgive Wayne for almost killing him in the first place.

Slade allows him a few more seconds of hiding before giving Jason a firm push back. “Go to your room, Jason. I want you to pack a bag and get ready to leave in the morning.”

“Get ready to leave…?”

A flash of horror invades Jason’s chest for a moment, afraid he’s about to be kicked out for his indiscretions. Thankfully, before his thoughts can run too wild on that possibility, Slade then goes on to assure him that’s not the case.

“Yes, I’ve been putting off our hunting trip too long.” Touching his shoulder, Slade gives Jason another nudge down the hallway. “Go on, quickly now. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, you’ll want a full night’s rest first.”

He manages to jerk his head in a nod, stumbling at first, then walking swiftly towards the room in the house that’s designated as his own, though the most use it sees is simply as a storage space for him to keep books and clothes. There’s still so much left for him to take in, but Jason’s at least relieved to know that Slade isn’t too angry with him, _and_ that’s he’s not being thrown out back on the street again, to steal and sell himself in order to survive.

Maybe he should be happy, even, that they’re finally heading out on the long promised trip to the wilderness. In a way, it’s almost like getting a reward instead of a punishment — if only he didn’t still feel so hurt by Dick and everything he’s learnt in the last hour.

Inside his room, Jason stops for a moment and puts his hand across the scar on his hip. He can’t stay focused on it, he decides. What’s done is done, and tomorrow has to be a better day. Slade will make sure of that. He can trust him at least, if nothing else.

Once he’s done packing, though, Jason is only certain of one thing: sleep will be a long time in coming for him tonight, no matter how much he needs it.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr!](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/)


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